Psychopathology and personality of young women who experience food cravings

• Published in: Addictive behaviors 1997-07, Vol.22 (4), p.545-555
• Main Authors: Gendall, Kelly A., Sullivan, Patrick F., Joyce, Peter R., Fear, Jennifer L., Bulik, Cynthia M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Analysis of Variance; Behavior; Behavior, Addictive - complications; Behavior, Addictive - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; Chi-Square Distribution; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Disease Susceptibility; Drive; Eating behavior disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - complications; Female; Food Preferences - psychology; Humans; Inhibition (Psychology); Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - complications; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Personality; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Substance-Related Disorders - complications; Temperament; Women
• ISSN: 0306-4603; 1873-6327
• DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4603(96)00060-3

The objective of the present study was to investigate the psychopathology and personality characteristics of women who experience food cravings. A total of 101 young women selected at random from the community completed the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies with a trained interviewer. The interview included a section about food-craving experiences and associated factors. Subjects also completed a self-report questionnaire booklet containing the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). Compared to noncravers, women who reported food cravings were significantly more likely to report a history of alcohol abuse/dependence ( p = .003), significant weight changes ( p = .003), and to have undertaken dieting ( p = .02), bingeing ( p = .05), vomiting ( p = .02), exercise ( p = .04), diet pill ( p = .03), and laxative use ( p = .01) to control weight. There was a trend for the cravers to have higher novelty-seeking scores on the TCI ( p = .06). Our findings suggest that women who experience food cravings are more likely to have met criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence and tend to have temperament characterized by higher levels of novelty seeking. In addition the high rates of eating-disorder symptomatology implies overconcern with body weight and shape in the women who experienced food cravings.